Peace in Our Time
As Ricky Ricardo would say: Palestine, you got some splainin to do!
Lest the cacophony of media wags continues to blame Israel for the never-ending conflict between that country and the Palestinians, consider this: Hamas kicked Fatah's ass in parliamentary elections, winning at least 75 seats and enough of a majority to rule without help from Fatah, which apparently is going to take its marbles and go home, anyway.
What does Hamas' ascendancy mean? Simply put, a militant terrorist organization committed to the annihilation of Israel soundly defeated the "moderate" terrorist organization that used to be committed to the annihilation of Israel.
The anti-Israel pundits who populate the mainstream press have a quick -- and dim-witted -- explanation for Hamas' victories. AP's interpretation is fairly typical:
"Hamas capitalized on widespread discontent with Fatah's corruption and ineffectiveness. Much of its campaign focused on internal Palestinian issues, while playing down the conflict with Israel."
"Playing down" the conflict?!? Give me a break. Show us the uninformed Palestinian voter who isn't acutely aware every day of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Politics in the Mideast isn't exactly needing a James Carville to pontificate on what the elections were about.
It's all about Israel, stupid. The election turnout was humungous. More than 70 percent of eligible Palestinians turned out to prop up the party of suicide bombers, random killings and all-around hate. Let's be honest: When a guy who goes by the nickname of Hitler wins a seat in parliament, there isn't a great mystery about what is driving the electorate.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan, never at a loss to undermine the credibility of his organization, has congratulated the Palestinian people for the "peaceful" elections, calling it an important step toward a Palestinian state.
Presumably another important step, at least for Hamas and its cadre of apologists, is the wholesale killing of Jews.
posted by Chase McInerney @ 12:12 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Chase, you're right, this IS about Israel. "Pundits" say that this is about Fatah corruption. So they voted against corruption and FOR terrorisn?!
Let's hear it for the democratic process. I have a sneaking suspicion that if an American political party openly identified themselves as terrorists, they would PROBABLY be disqualified from running.
Insightful. On the mild end, this could show us what the Palestinians really can do on their own, since large chunks of their foreign aid will dry up and Israel is unlikely keep negotiations open. My guess is accelerated economic and social deterioration, unless ugly green baseball caps are converted into currency.
On the strong end, HAMAS could have just taken one more step on the road that pisses off the Israelis so much they rename their neighbor Glassycraterstine. The problem with using gutter-fighting tactics against someone who can pretty much wipe them out is that they have to have a perfect track record at guessing the someone won't lose their temper. The first mistake is also the last.
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